[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 182 (Wednesday, November 8, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H8600-H8601]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          HONORING 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE EDMUNDITE MISSIONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Alabama (Ms. Sewell) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 
80th anniversary of the Edmundite Missions at Our Lady Queen of Peace 
Catholic Church in Selma, Alabama.
  For 80 years, the Edmundite Missions has faithfully served poor and 
underprivileged communities throughout the Deep South. The Edmundite 
Missions is rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and focuses on 
providing food, clothing, and shelter to poor and marginalized children 
and families, young adults, and seniors of all faith traditions.
  While the Edmundite Missions in Alabama is headquartered in Selma, 
their outreach area includes the Alabama counties of Butler, Dallas, 
Lowndes, Monroe, Perry, and Wilcox, as well as New Orleans, Louisiana.
  The inspiring story of the Edmundite Missions began with a call to 
action when, in 1936, Pope Pius XI appealed to the Society of St. 
Edmund to go minister to the African Americans of the Deep South.
  The Edmundites responded by selecting two young priests, Father Casey 
and Father Paro, to take on the assignment. They wrote to the bishop, 
Thomas Toolen of Mobile, who invited them to set up a ``colored 
mission'' in Selma.
  When Fathers Casey and Paro arrived in Selma on July 6, 1937, they 
discovered thousands of people living in extreme poverty, similar to 
that of a Third World country. In response, they began their outreach 
by conducting door-to-door evangelism in the Black community and 
building a small chapel, St. Elizabeth's Mission. Initially, they were 
met with skepticism by both the Black and White communities in Selma, 
but their services to the poor gradually won them the respect of both 
races.
  The work of the Edmundite Missions helped to transform the 
communities of Alabama's rural Black Belt during some of the most 
turbulent times of race relations in American history.
  In the 1940s, the mission welcomed the Sisters of Saint Joseph from 
Rochester, New York, who came to Selma to provide education and social 
ministry. The Sisters of Saint Joseph started St. Elizabeth's School in 
1941 and the Holy Infant Inn, a nursing home, in 1943.
  In 1944, the Edmundites purchased the Selma Good Samaritan Hospital, 
a rundown infirmary for African Americans, and the sisters set out to 
transform that facility into a modern-day one. They established the 
Good Samaritan School of Nursing, the first medical training program 
for African-American women in the area.

  Then, in 1947, Father Nelson Ziter launched the Don Bosco Boys Club, 
named after the patron saint of youth work. For the next 19 years, 
until 1966, the Don Bosco Boys Club helped hundreds of young Black 
youth prepare and win financial assistance needed to attend college. 
Father Ziter devoted countless hours and days to ensuring the success 
of every youth who came into the program.
  On a personal note, I can attest to the transformative power of the 
Don Bosco Boys Club. My dad, Andrew A. Sewell, and many of his close 
friends credit the support, love, and guidance of Father Ziter for 
changing the trajectory of their lives. My dad and many of his 
teammates received athletic scholarships to Historically Black 
Colleges, becoming the first generation of college graduates in that 
area.
  The club and its ministry helped to break the cycle of poverty for 
these African-American boys such that they became teachers, doctors, 
lawyers, and even priests.
  The Sewell family is forever indebted for the generous support and 
assistance the Edmundite Mission has given the communities of Selma and 
throughout the Black Belt for over 80 years.
  The Edmundites found themselves the center of controversy during the 
1960s when they were the only Whites in Selma who openly supported the 
voting rights movement. During the 1950s and 1960s, the mission and its 
priests and sisters worked with Selma's Black and White leaders, its 
business community, and its White ministers to open the lines of 
communication between the races.
  During the march from Selma to Montgomery, the Edmundites, led by 
Father Ouellet, played a very critical role. On March 7, 1965, the 
brutal confrontation at the Edmund Pettus Bridge caught the attention 
of the Nation. Scores of wounded marchers poured into the emergency 
room at Good Samaritan Hospital, where doctors, nurses, and sisters 
worked around the clock to address their medical needs.
  Good Samaritan Hospital won national praise for its treatment of the 
victims of the infamous Bloody Sunday confrontation, including 
providing medical treatment, Mr. Speaker, to our beloved colleague, 
Congressman John Lewis.
  Father Ouellet left Selma in June of 1965 on the orders of the 
Archbishop of

[[Page H8601]]

Mobile. When he left, he was given a standing ovation by his 
parishioners.
  The citizens of Selma and the surrounding Black Belt counties have 
come a long way since 1937, and I ask my colleagues to join me in 
celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Edmundite Mission and in 
recognizing its many contributions.
  May the glory of the Edmundites Mission continue to grow and prosper 
for years to come.

                          ____________________